Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 13:18

"And for about the time of forty years as a nursing-father bare he them in the wilderness." — Acts 13:18 (ASV)

And about the time of forty years. They were this long going from Egypt to the land of Canaan, Exodus 16:35; Numbers 33:38.

Suffered he their manners. This passage has been translated in many different ways. The Syriac version renders it, "He nourished them," etc. The Arabic, "He blessed them, and nourished them," etc. The word is not used elsewhere in the New Testament.

The word underlying "suffered their manners" properly means to tolerate, or endure the conduct of anyone, implying that this conduct is evil and tends to provoke punishment. This is undoubtedly its meaning here if that reading is followed. Paul probably referred to the passage in Deuteronomy 1:31: The Lord your God bore you.

However, instead of the Greek word etropoforhsen (which means "he endured their manners"), many manuscripts read etrofoforhsen, meaning "He sustained or nourished them." This latter reading was followed by the Syriac and Arabic versions and has been admitted by Griesbach into the text. It is also found in the Septuagint in Deuteronomy 1:31, to which Paul undoubtedly referred.

The term etrofoforhsen is rendered "bore or fed them, as a nurse bears or feeds her child" (Deuteronomy 1:31, according to the Septuagint; and so Chrysostom).

This latter reading, etrofoforhsen, would fit well with the context of the passage, as a change of a single letter (from etropoforhsen) might easily have occurred in a manuscript. It also adds to the probability that this is the true reading that it aligns with Deuteronomy 1:31; Numbers 11:12; and Deuteronomy 32:10.

Furthermore, it is not probable that Paul would have begun a discourse by reminding them of the obstinacy and wickedness of the nation. Such an approach would tend to exasperate rather than conciliate. Instead, by reminding them of God's mercies to them and showing them that God had been their protector, he was better preparing them for his main purpose: to show them the kindness of the God of their fathers in sending them a Saviour.

In the wilderness. This refers to the desert through which they passed when going from Egypt to Canaan.